And Here We Are Again

Trey Smith

Remember when the US attacked Iraq because they had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)...only they didn't really have them? UN inspectors simply couldn't find what US leaders declared was, at the time, incontrovertible evidence. It came out later that these same US leaders knew that Iraq didn't possess WMDs; it was just a manufactured excuse to do what they wanted to do anyway.

Today, the US is beating similar war drums again. This time around we're being told that there is strong evidence that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons against their own people. As it currently stands, there is no incontrovertible proof a) there was a chemical attack in Syria and b) who might be responsible for it, if it did occur.

Yesterday, UN inspectors attempted to visit the sites of the supposed occurrence of chemical weapons usage. They visited the first site, but could not visit the others because they came under heavy sniper fire.

Now, why would they come under sniper fire? There are two very plausible explanations. First, the sniper fire could have come from elements of the Syrian government forces because they wanted to prevent the UN inspectors from discovering that chemical weapons had, indeed, been used. But there is another scenario that is just as likely: The sniper fire came from rebel forces because they want to prevent UN inspectors from discovering that there is no evidence of a chemical attack.

Look, I have no idea which scenario is the correct one, but I lean toward the latter. I lean this way simply because we know that US leaders have a propensity for using trumped up rationale to enter into war. When the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor back in 1898 from unknown causes, this event was used as justification to commence the Spanish-American War. Remember the Gulf of Tonkin incident? A very distorted description of it was utilized as a pretense to escalate the use of American forces in Vietnam. And then, of course, we have the more recent example of Iraq.

It just seems to me that the US has an itchy trigger finger! With the "war" in Afghanistan supposedly winding down, the military-industrial complex needs a new target. The best way to justify our humungous defense budget is to be engaged in a war...somewhere. Since, lately, war means attacking Muslims, Syria will do!

And there is another reason a "war" in Syria is so needed right now. The US brass needs to find something to divert attention away from the NSA scandal. A war would certainly do the trick!!